In the summer of 2025, the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group (UNCG) conducted a series of expeditions near the village of Obukhovychi in the Kyiv region (Kyivshchyna). The primary goal of these field visits was to study the existing biodiversity to prepare proposals for establishing new conservation reserves (zakaznyky). The research covered territories within the Obukhovychi Forestry, former collective farm forest tracts, and the floodplains of the Liubsha, Bolotna, Zbynka, and Bychok rivers.
July and August Discoveries
In July, the expedition included leading botanists who had also been surveying the pine forests of the Chornobyl Biosphere Reserve and the consequences of the 2022 wartime wildfires. On their return, the scientists surveyed several plots near Obukhovychi, where they documented new locations for rare plants: the Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine, or Koručka čemernykovydna) and the Large Yellow Foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora, or Naperstianka velykotsvitkova).
Two August trips further underscored the region’s high conservation value. One trip led to the discovery of new populations of the wild orchid Lesser Butterfly-orchid (Platanthera bifolia, or Liubka dvylista) and the Stag’s-horn Clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum, or Plavun bulavovydnyy). Researchers also documented areas of old-growth forest near the Liubsha River, featuring oaks and pines with circumferences exceeding two meters. One oak measured 410 cm in girth (circumference), indicating exceptional conservation value that merits special protected status.
The other August trip included hydrobiologists and zoologists who recorded a spectrum of rare animal species, including the Grey Crane (Grus grus), Lesser Spotted Eagle (Clanga pomarina), and Black Stork (Ciconia nigra). They also found globally significant, Red Data Book listed crustaceans: Schäffer’s Fairy Shrimp (Branchipus schaefferi) and the Summer Shield Shrimp (Triops cancriformis), often referred to as a “living fossil.” Additionally, the regionally rare plant White Hellebore (Veratrum lobelianum, or Chemerytsia Lobelieva) was found.
Proposed Protected Areas
These summer studies are a continuation of work begun in previous years. Based on research from 2023–2024, UNCG has already prepared a scientific article proposing the establishment of ten new Protected Areas Fund (PZF) sites in the vicinity:
Three Local Landscape Conservation Reserves (Landshaftni Zakaznyky Mistsevoho Znachennia):
- “Zinchyna Loza” (13 ha): Includes the namesake herbaceous swamp and adjacent forests.
- “Urochyshche Ninovychi” (37 ha): Covers three adjacent herbaceous swamps.
- “Valley of Maksym Kozachyna’s Memory” (114 ha): Encompasses the floodplain and bore-terrace of the Murava River.
Seven Local Botanical Nature Monuments (Botanichni Pam’iatky Pryrody Mistsevoho Znachennia):
- “Dibrova na Rozi” (5 ha): Features old-age oak-pine stands.
- “Stanyshivskyi Kurhan” (0.2 ha): A burial mound with a 10m-wide protection zone and three old-age oaks.
- Five Individual Old-Age Oaks (Vikovi Duby), including:
- “Stanyshivskyi Oak” (5.0 m girth).
- “Hrabskyi Oak” (4.39 m girth, in the Hrabskе tract).
- “Dub-Vulyk” (3.7 m girth), which is home to rare Polissia dark bees.
- “Kuzma’s Oak” (3.1 m girth, in the Ninovychi tract).
- “Zincha’s Oak” (3.69 m girth, in the Horodyshche tract).
The results of these expeditions prove that even well-known forest tracts in the Kyiv region retain unique complexes of biodiversity that require enhanced protection. UNCG is working to ensure that the old-growth forests and floodplain areas around Obukhovychi receive the status of conservation reserves or nature monuments and are preserved for future generations.
We thank Dr. Ivan Moisiyenko, Doctor of Biological Sciences and Head of the Botany Department at Kherson State University, for the initiative and photos.
Reference: Moisiyenko, I. et al. (2024). Perspectives for Protected Areas in the Vicinity of Obukhovychi Village, Vyshhorod District, Kyiv Region (Ukraine). Visti Biosfernogo Zapovidnyka “Askania-Nova”, (26), 47–56. DOI: 10.53904/1682-2374/2024-26/3
